- Campus , The University
- 05/03/2024
Occupation of the Career Expo by University Rebellion
University Rebellion started occupying the Career Expo at the TU/e, joined by several other action groups. The activists are angry at Wervingsdagen, the organisation behind the Career Expo, for still allowing fossil fuel companies at the event. Besides that University Rebellion also wants Cursor's demands for press freedom to be met. The occupation started with a banner on the outside of the Blue Hall. Cursor reports live on the developments today.
13:00
University Rebellion's protesters are also present on the second day of the Career Expo. This time in the 'senaatszaal', right in front of the Shell and Tata Steel stands. Here, they're laying down all kinds of signs and banners and are putting up barricade tape to block the passage to both companies. Students who still decide to pass under the tape to have a chat with the recruiters are yelled at by the protesters through a megaphone: "This is an active crime scene, you cannot pass."
13:10
There is a lecture on the ties between the university and the fossil industry in the Blue Hall by a person from Mapping Fossil Ties, a coalition working to reveal the industry's ties to academia through WOO requests, a way to receive information from existing documents. Cursor will also publish a larger investigative story on this this week.
12:50
There is a heavy metal concert in front of the Auditorium on the Koeveld side. A band is performing there on behalf of University Rebellion, Extinction Rebellion, Ocean Rebellion and Animal Rebellion to demonstrate against Allseas, one of the companies at the Career Expo. The offshore company that can be found in the Auditorium focuses, among other things, on deep-sea mining that the organisations say is disastrous for marine life. Greenpeace has also opposed this in the past.
12:20
Action groups have occupied the Blue Hall in Auditorium and the press is present in large numbers. There will be a performance on the Koeveld at 12:30.
One of the companies that is at the Expo on Tuesday, RWE, is also being demonstrated against through posters at the Senate Hall side.
12:10
Around noon, the first protesters of University Rebellion appeared in Auditorium. Shell itself is not present today, but will be tomorrow. The protesters will also demonstrate then.
In a statement published yesterday, the Executive Board said it would not accede to the demands of the activists who, in addition to cutting ties with the fossil industry, also advocate safeguarding Cursor's freedom of press. In the same statement, the Executive Board also stated that it welcomes demonstrations and free press at the university, while also referring to the 'protocol for demonstrations'.
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